The United Kingdom faces the biggest jump in old age care spending in Europe, new analysis has warned.
A rapidly expanding National Health Service and increasingly elderly population look set to drive costs up.
Spending on healthcare for the elderly is expected to rise by just under eight per cent of Gross Domestic Product over the next 50 years.
Official projections indicate the gross figure is around £200billion.
Old person looking at his phone
PAGermany is forecast to witness an increase of less than one per cent.
France, where health insurance is mandatory, will see a rise of around two per cent.
KPMG analysis of data compiled by the Office for Budget Responsibility and European Commision found “a scale of challenges unprecedented in recent history”.
Yael Selfin, KPMG’s chief economist, described the UK’s projected increase as “unsustainable”.
She suggested the NHS would need to undergo widespread reform to remain affordable and keep people healthy.
More than 11 per cent of GDP was spent on healthcare last year, totalling £283billion.
Selfin said: “You can already see it’s not that sustainable as things stand.
“So there is definitely scope to make the NHS beast more efficient.”
A NHS hospital ward
PA
Selfin also stressed that spending more was not the only solution: “The NHS is stretched, we have a huge backlog and waiting lists.
“We have a lot of burnout as well, but I’m not sure whether this model itself is perfect.
“There’s definitely more that to be done to make things more efficient, to use technology more, and to revisit the health care being provided.”
The UK’s population is continuing to age, with OBR data projecting the number of people aged over 65 to leap from 17.8 per cent in 2023 to 27.5 per cent in 50 years.